Indian government has conceded on Monday that the Kohinoor diamond also budded the ‘Mountain of Light’ was gifted to Britain, and not stolen as formerly accused.

As part of a public interest filing seeking the gem's return, India's solicitor general, Ranjit Kumar, told the country's Supreme Court that the coveted jewel was not stolen or forcibly taken away, as many in India have long argued, Indian media reports.

The diamond was believed to have been mined in what is the present day Indian state of Andhra Pradesh centuries ago. The diamond is now part of the glittering purple-velvet Queen Mother's Crown in the Tower of London. Visitors partial to India have been known to hiss at it when they walk by.

‘It passed through the hands of various sultans, warlords and Mughal emperors before ending up the possession of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, a Sikh warrior of Punjab. He had wanted it to go to a Hindu temple upon his death, but the British secured it in the Treaty of Lahore and his heir presented it to Queen Victoria in 1850,’ Indian historians has said.